Effective 2009, a formula has been established for
determining sizes of national teams, replacing an
older system which
had been in place since 1997.

The following five players qualify for the WSC as wildcards:
the current World Champion, the last losing WSC finalist,
the WYSC Champion (if there has been more than one since
the last WSC, the WYSC organisers must decide which one
gets the wildcard), and two players from the WSC host
country.
In addition, the highest internationally rated player as of
July 31st in the WSC year may be considered as a sixth wildcard,
if he or she does not qualify otherwise.

Adjustments to national allocations are based on performance
at the previous WSC as follows.
Countries are ranked according to the average finishing rank
of their players.
(If a country has N players and W wildcards, the ranks of only
N of the N+W players contribute to the average, choosing the
N players whose pre-WSC WESPA tournament ratings are highest
among the N+W, considering unrated players as rated lower than
rated players, and breaking ties in favour of better-ranked players.)
Among the countries represented by more than one player, the
bottom half lose a player and the top half gain a player,
except:

If the number of such countries is odd, the country
ranked in the middle does not gain or lose players.

If a country's allocation is already at 15, it does not gain a player
(and therefore the total allocation will diminish by one).

Any countries represented by only one player will gain a player if
their representative finished in the top half at the previous WSC.
If this happens, a corresponding number of countries with larger teams
is denied their increase, in order to keep the overall size of the event
the same.
(If the total number of players at the previous WSC is odd, finishing
exactly in the middle counts as being in the top half. If more single-player
countries are due to gain players than multiplayer countries, then no
multiplayer teams gain players and the overall size of the event has to
increase.)

For example, in 2007 there were 23 countries represented by more than one
player and one country (U.A.E.) represented by one player who finished in the top.
half. The bottom 11 of the 23 lose a player, and the top 11-1=10 of the
23 gain a player, along with the U.A.E.

If a nation is not represented by its full quota, it does not participate
in the adjustment, and neither gains nor loses places.
If it does so for two consecutive years, it loses one player (unless
it only had one), and the overall size of the event drops by one.

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